Portal:Israel

Welcome to the Israel Portal
מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל

Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. Situated in the Southern Levant of the Middle East, it shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the southwest, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. It occupies the Palestinian territories of the West Bank in the east and the Gaza Strip in the southwest. Israel also has a small coastline on the Red Sea at its southernmost point, and part of the Dead Sea lies along its eastern border. Its proclaimed capital is Jerusalem, while Tel Aviv is the country's largest urban area and economic center.

Israel is located in a region known as the Land of Israel, synonymous with the Canaan region and the Holy Land. In antiquity, it was home to the Canaanite civilisation followed by the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Situated at a continental crossroad, the region experienced demographic changes under the rule of empires from the Romans to the Ottomans. European antisemitism in the late 19th century galvanised Zionism, which sought a Jewish homeland in Palestine and gained British support. After World War I, Britain occupied the region and established Mandatory Palestine in 1920. Increased Jewish immigration in the leadup to the Holocaust and British foreign policy in the Middle East led to intercommunal conflict between Jews and Arabs, which escalated into a civil war in 1947 after a proposed partition by the United Nations was rejected by the Arabs. (Full article...)

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The Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount (Al-Aqsa) in the Old City of Jerusalem

The Dome of the Rock (Arabic: قبة الصخرة, romanized: Qubbat aṣ-Ṣaḵra) is an Islamic shrine at the center of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. It is the world's oldest surviving work of Islamic architecture, the earliest archaeologically attested religious structure to be built by a Muslim ruler and its inscriptions contain the earliest epigraphic proclamations of Islam and of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

Its initial construction was undertaken by the Umayyad Caliphate on the orders of Abd al-Malik during the Second Fitna in 691–692 CE, and it has since been situated on top of the site of the Second Jewish Temple (built in c. 516 BCE to replace the destroyed Solomon's Temple and rebuilt by Herod the Great), which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. The original dome collapsed in 1015 and was rebuilt in 1022–23. (Full article...)

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This is a Featured picture that the Wikimedia Commons community has chosen as one of the highest quality on the site.

Image 1Northeast exposure of Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount, in the Old City of Jerusalem. Considered to be the third holiest site in Islam after Mecca and Medina.
Image 2Ceramic tile on the Dome of the Rock, an Islamic shrine located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem
Image 3Diving tourism site on the southern coast of Eilat, around a horseshoe-shaped reef. Many animal species are found in the area, including dolphins.
Image 4"The Nile and the Sinai, to Israel and beyond. One sweeping glance of human history." Caption by astronaut Chris Hadfield on board the International Space Station.
Image 5Paratroopers at the Western Wall, an iconic photograph taken on June 7, 1967 by David Rubinger.
Image 6Reading Power Station, built in Tel Aviv in 1938, was named for Rufus Isaacs, the 1st Marquess of Reading. Reading Light is pictured on the left.
Image 7Young Nubian ibex (Capra nubiana) on a stone wall by the edge of Makhtesh Ramon in Mitzpe Ramon.
Image 8Southern aerial view of the Temple Mount, a hill located in the Old City of Jerusalem that for thousands of years has been venerated as a holy site, in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Image 9Jews Praying in the Synagogue on Yom Kippur, an 1878 painting by Maurycy Gottlieb
Image 10Dead Tree in Sea of Life is an installation artwork from 2017 by Amiram Dora, a travel guide from the nearby city Arad. The work consists of a tree planted on a salt pile in the Dead Sea. The purpose of the work is to show that as opposed to its common name, the Dead Sea is actually a place of rich tourist activity, healing and relaxation.
Image 11A view of Jaffa, from the beachfront of Tel Aviv
Image 12The Jerusalem Railway Station c. 1900. The locomotive on the turntable is "Ramleh" (J&J No. 3), a Baldwin 2-6-0. The station was the terminus of the Jaffa–Jerusalem railway until its closure in 1998. Today, the station is abandoned and suffering from neglect and vandalism, although it is one of 110 buildings selected for preservation in Jerusalem.
Image 13An aerial view of Masada in the Judaean Desert, with the Dead Sea and Jordan in the distance
Image 14A more recent section of the Israel-Egypt barrier fence, north of Eilat, June 2012. It is a border barrier built by Israel along its border with Egypt. It was originally an attempt to curb illegal migrants from African countries.^[1] Construction was approved on 12 January 2010^[2] and began on 22 November 2010.^[3]
Image 15A view of Jerusalem from southeast, showing the Walls of Jerusalem, the Dome of the Rock, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. This image was taken sometime between 1900 and 1940.
Image 16An aerial view of Makhtesh Ramon, a geological feature of Israel's Negev desert. Located some 85 km south of the city of Beersheba, the landform is not an impact crater from a meteor nor a volcanic crater formed by a volcanic eruption, but rather is the world's largest "erosion cirque" (steephead valley or box canyon).
Image 17David Ben-Gurion's room at Ben-Gurion's Hut, the retirement home of Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and his wife Paula (Pola) from the years 1953 until Ben-Gurion's death in 1973.

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Did you know - show different entries

...that according to the Gospel of Mark, Jesus was buried in one of the rock-cut tombs in ancient Israel (pictured)?
...that the Pactum Warmundi established autonomous Venetian communes within the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem?
...that the Israeli documentary Paper Dolls followed the lives of five health care providers from the Philippines who perform as drag queens?

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WikiProjects

WikiProject Israel – WikiProject Jewish history – WikiProject Judaism – WikiProject Jewish culture – WikiProject Hebrew

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This is a Good article, an article that meets a core set of high editorial standards.

Eilat Airport (Hebrew: שְׂדֵה הַתְּעוּפָה אֵילַת, romanized: Namal HaTe'ufa Eilat; Arabic: مطار إيلات (IATA: ETH, ICAO: LLET)), also known as J. Hozman Airport, was an airport located in Eilat, Israel. It was named after Arkia Airlines founder Yakov Hozman (Jacob Housman) and was located in the center of Eilat adjacent to Route 90 (The Arava Road). Due to its short runway and limited capacity it mainly handled domestic flights from Tel Aviv (Sde Dov Airport and to a lesser extent Ben Gurion Airport) and Haifa Airport, while Uvda International Airport, located some 60 km (40 mi) north of the city, handled Eilat's international carriers.

The airport was expected to cease operations on October 27, 2018, with the opening of the new Ramon Airport. However, the opening of the new airport was delayed until January 21, 2019. (Full article...)

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Israeli cuisine Joseph's Tomb Kashrut Clal Center Zion Square Black Hebrew Israelites Robinson's Arch Abergil crime family Chaim Topol Birket Israel Joshua Prawer Mamilla Schwester Selma Ir Ovot Downtown Triangle (Jerusalem) Haifa Western Wall AIL Storm Al-Aqsa Mosque Angel Bakeries Operation Pleshet Arrow (Israeli missile)

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Hamantashen served

A hamantash (pl.: hamantashen; also spelled hamantasch, hamantaschen; Yiddish: המן־טאַש homentash, pl.: המן־טאַשן homentashn, 'Haman pockets') is an Ashkenazi Jewish triangular filled-pocket pastry associated with the Jewish holiday of Purim. The name refers to Haman, the villain in the Purim story. In Hebrew, hamantashen are also known as אוזני המן (oznei Haman), meaning "Haman's ears". "Haman's ears" also refers to a Sephardic Purim pastry, "Orejas de Haman", thought to originate in Spain and Italy, that is made by frying twisted or rolled strips of dough.

Traditionally, the dough for hamantashen was made with yeast. With the invention of baking powder during the 1840s and its wide adoption during the first half of the twentieth century, baking powder supplanted yeast, and hamantashen dough became a cookie rather than pastry dough. To shape a hamantash, a filling is placed in the center of a circle of dough, which is then either folded in half and shaped into a triangle or the sides are brought to the center to form a triangle. The oldest and most traditional filling is mohn (poppy seed paste), with powidl or lekvar (prune jam) a close second. The cookie dough variety has spawned many different fillings, traditionally sweet (although savory varieties have become popular as well). Most popular are various jams, especially apricot and raspberry, but also date, raisins, apple, vanilla pastry cream with chocolate chips, cherry, fig, chocolate, dulce de leche, halva, caramel, or cheese. The dough varies from hard like shortbread to a soft yeast dough. (Full article...)

List of fare/cuisine articles
Challah Ancient Israelite cuisine Israeli wine Cholent Israeli salad Kreplach Israeli breakfast Jachnun Kugel Shkedei marak Jerusalem mixed grill Charoset Bamba (snack) Ktzitzot Khubeza Gefilte fish Seven Species Matzah ball

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The following are images from various Israel-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Habimah Theater in Tel Aviv (from Culture of Israel)
Image 2Portion of the Temple Scroll, one of the Dead Sea Scrolls written by the Essenes (from History of Israel)
Image 3"Hezekiah ... king of Judah" – Royal seal written in the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet, unearthed in Jerusalem (from History of Israel)
Image 4Occupied Enemy Territory Administration, 1918 (from History of Israel)
Image 5A portion of the Isaiah scroll. One of the earliest known manuscripts of biblical literature (from Culture of Israel)
Image 6Avraham Adan raising the Ink Flag marking the end of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War (from History of Israel)
Image 7Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, 2006 (from Culture of Israel)
Image 8Simulated view of a black hole. Jacob Bekenstein predicted and co-discovered black hole entropy (from Culture of Israel)
Image 9Jewish youth dancing the Horah in the kibboutz Ein Harod in 1936 (from Culture of Israel)
Image 10Jewish Settlement Police members watching the settlement Nesher during 1936–1939 Arab revolt (from History of Israel)
Image 11David Ben-Gurion proclaiming the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948 (from History of Israel)
Image 121949 Green Line (from History of Israel)
Image 13Heraclius returning the True Cross to Jerusalem, 15th-century painting by Miguel Ximénez (from History of Israel)
Image 14Illustration for the Song of Songs. Along with the Book of Esther, the ancient poem is an example of an ancient Israeli literature with no mention of God, and is traditionally read as an allegory of the relationship between God and Israel (from Culture of Israel)
Image 15Breads in Mahane Yehuda market (from Culture of Israel)
Image 16Cultural map of the world according to the World Values Survey, describing Israel as a whole at parity in "Rational-Secular Values" and also at parity in "Self-expression values". (from Culture of Israel)
Image 17Gen. Uzi Narkiss, Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, Chief of staff Yitzhak Rabin and Gen. Rehavam Ze'evi in the Old City of Jerusalem, 7 June 1967 (from History of Israel)
Image 18The Bahri Mamluk dynasty 1250–1382 (from History of Israel)
Image 19Menahem Zion synagoge, Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem (from Culture of Israel)
Image 20Menachem Begin addressing a mass demonstration in Tel Aviv against negotiations with Germany in 1952 (from History of Israel)
Image 21Visual History of Israel by Arthur Szyk, 1948 (from History of Israel)
Image 22Menachem Begin, Jimmy Carter and Anwar Sadat celebrating the signing of the Camp David Accords (from History of Israel)
Image 23Ecclesiastes is known for its incipit vanity of vanities; all is vanity and concepts of Vanitas (from Culture of Israel)
Image 24Skhul Cave (from History of Israel)
Image 25Ofek-7 satellite launch through Shavit vehicle (from Culture of Israel)
Image 26Nahal Brigade soldiers returning after the 2006 Lebanon War (from History of Israel)
Image 27143rd Division crossing the Suez Canal in the direction of Cairo during the Yom Kippur War, 15 October 1973 (from History of Israel)
Image 28Detail of the Siloam inscription (from History of Israel)
Image 29Jewish symbols in Israeli artworks (from Culture of Israel)
Image 30Shrine of the Book, Israel Museum, Jerusalem (from Culture of Israel)
Image 31United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, 1947 (from History of Israel)
Image 32Gal Fridman, winner of Israel's first Olympic gold medal (from Culture of Israel)
Image 33Yitzhak Rabin, Bill Clinton, and Yasser Arafat during the Oslo Accords signing ceremony at the White House on 13 September 1993 (from History of Israel)
Image 34Painting of the siege of Jerusalem during the First Crusade (1099) (from History of Israel)
Image 35Obverse of Yehud silver coin (from History of Israel)
Image 36The Arch of Titus in Rome depicts the Roman triumph celebrating the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE (from History of Israel)
Image 37Sermon on the Mount. The New Testament was authored by Christian Jews during Roman-ruled Judea (from Culture of Israel)
Image 38Aerial view of the Temple Mount showing the Dome of the Rock in the center and the al-Aqsa mosque to the south (from History of Israel)
Image 39Hebrew ulpan in Dimona, 1955 (from Culture of Israel)
Image 40A Bookplate done for Martin Buber; The plate is adorned with the walls of Jerusalem in the shape of a Shield of David, viewed from above (from Culture of Israel)
Image 41Tzofim Israeli scout movement fire ceremony in Tel Aviv (from Culture of Israel)
Image 42Israeli paratroopers dig in near the Mitla Pass, 31 October 1956 (from History of Israel)
Image 43Israeli breakfast (from Culture of Israel)
Image 44Tel Aviv Cinematheque (from Culture of Israel)
Image 45Hiking near Lake Kinneret (from Culture of Israel)
Image 46Buchenwald survivors arrive in Haifa to be arrested by the British, 15 July 1945 (from History of Israel)
Image 47Silver coin (gerah) minted in the Persian province of Yehud, dated c. 375-332 BCE. Obv: Bearded head wearing crown, possibly representing the Persian Great King. Rev: Falcon facing, head right, with wings spread; Paleo-Hebrew YHD to right. (from History of Israel)
Image 48Jewish Yemenite bride in traditional bridal vestment, adorned with a henna wreath, 1958 (from Culture of Israel)
Image 49Dedication ceremony of the Embassy of the United States in Jerusalem in 2018 (from History of Israel)
Image 50Protest in Tel Aviv on 6 August 2011 (from History of Israel)
Image 51The Merneptah Stele. According to mainstream archeology, it represents the first instance of the name "Israel" in the historical record. (from History of Israel)
Image 52The Gaza–Israel barrier route built (red), under construction (pink) and proposed (white), as of June 2011^[update] (from History of Israel)
Image 53Patriot missiles launched to intercept an Iraqi Scud over Tel Aviv during the Gulf War (from History of Israel)
Image 54Neo-Assyrian Empire at its greatest territorial extent. (from History of Israel)
Image 55The opening ceremony of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem visited by Arthur Balfour, 1 April 1925 (from History of Israel)
Image 56Jewish Brigade headquarters under both Union Flag and Jewish flag (from History of Israel)
Image 57Supply convoy on its way to besieged Jerusalem, April 1948 (from History of Israel)
Image 58Tiles in the Bezalel style, 1920s (from Culture of Israel)
Image 59Jewish workers in Kerem Avraham neighbourhood of Jerusalem (c. 1850s) (from History of Israel)
Image 60The route of the exiles to Babylon (from History of Israel)
Image 61Intel core i7-940. Intel developed its dual-core Core Duo processor at its Israel Development Center in Haifa. (from Culture of Israel)
Image 62David dictating the Psalms. The practice of psalms is referred to as a philosophical and theological problem (from Culture of Israel)
Image 63Remains of the Roman theater in Caesarea Maritima (from Culture of Israel)

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19 April 2025 –: At least 178 people are arrested in Pakistan after over 10 group attacks on KFC restaurants occur during protests against United States support for Israel in the Gaza war, with one employee shot dead. (Al Jazeera) (Al Arabiya)
17 April 2025 – Gaza war: The Israel Defense Forces begins the expansion of the recently-established Morag Corridor buffer zone to include the southern Gaza city of Rafah, intending to connect it with the Philadelphi Corridor. Witnesses report the Israeli demolition of structures in Rafah. (Al Jazeera) (RBC Ukraine); At least 37 people, including children, are killed in a series of Israeli strikes against displaced Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Civil Defence agency. (BBC News)
16 April 2025 – Israeli–Lebanese conflict: The Lebanese military detains a group of people, including several Palestinians, for firing rockets towards Israel in two separate attacks. Hezbollah denies their involvement in the rocket attacks. (AP)

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